By Pat Donovan

“At a time when most commentary about migration and immigration is marred by ideologically rigid formulations, the festival aims to raise the level of civic discourse in Western New York by exploring our origins through history, literature and the arts.”

Erik Seeman, director, Humanities Institute

University at Buffalo

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo Humanities
Institute has announced the first annual Buffalo Humanities
Festival, to be held Sept. 26-27 at Buffalo State College, the
Albright-Knox Art Gallery and the Burchfield Penney Art Center.

The festival theme is “Migration Nation: Moving
Stories.” It will include food, music, performances and
a parade of international puppets; short films and
conversations-under-the-tent with those who have found refuge here;
a Saturday symposium featuring speakers from UB, Buffalo State,
Niagara University and Canisius College; and an opportunity to meet
our neighbors from Burma, Somalia, Bhutan, Iraq, Sudan, Cuba,
Afghanistan and dozens of other countries, who are helping to
revitalize Buffalo.

Drawing on the area’s rich academic tradition and its
historic practice of welcoming immigrants from across the globe,
the festival will address what UB Humanities Institute Director
Erik Seeman says is a deceptively simple question, “How did
we get here?”

“At a time when most commentary about migration and
immigration is marred by ideologically rigid formulations,”
he says, “the festival aims to raise the level of civic
discourse in Western New York by exploring our origins through
history, literature and the arts. And it aims to do so in an
atmosphere that is fun, lively and youthful.”

Special guests will include multiple award-winning Russian-born
writer Gary Shteyngart, author of “Little Failure: A
Memoir,” “Super Sad True Love Story: A Novel” and
“The Russian Debutante’s Handbook.” Another will
be La Eh Soe, a photojournalist of the Saffron Revolution and a
political refugee of Burma’s Karen minority, whose family is
one of thousands separated for anywhere from five to 20 years by
the police state. He is the subject of “Click,”
one of the short films to will be screened at the festival.